Rick Strassman, MD, is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. He is author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule — A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research Into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences, Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds Through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies, and DMT and the Soul of Prophecy: a New Science of Spiritual Revelation in the Hebrew Bible. He has also authored a novel titled Joseph Levy Escapes Death. His newest book is My Altered States: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Trauma, Psychedelics, and Spiritual Growth.

Here he reviews his life in terms of the many varied altered states of consciousness he experienced, starting with his infancy. His interpretation of these events is colored by his experiences as a psychedelic researcher, a psychoanalytic patient, and as a Buddhist meditator.

00:00 Introduction

02:42 Unflinching inquiry

04:38 Free association as an altered state

08:41 The role of the guide

11:36 Working through trauma

15:56 Buddhist meditation

19:29 Cannabis and psychedelics

28:03 Hidden capacities of mind

34:41 Self-awareness

37:04 Conclusion

(Recorded on December 17, 2024)

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Published on January 10, 2025